Get Bootylicious: Best Glute Exercises For Women (And Why)

Have you ever stopped to wonder what your butt is actually good for? I mean, we know it’s great for sitting on… but aside from that?

Your glutes are the biggest muscles in your entire body, and one of the strongest. They serve for much more than a chair cushion.

Your butt helps to extend your hips (and rotate them); propels you forward; aligns your legs, hips, pelvis and trunk; gives support to your knees and helps you to do basic activities like sit, stand, walk, climb… well you get it: your butt is important!

So then why does it often go neglected? Even if unintentionally.

–> Did you know that just the simple act of sitting down can atrophy the muscles, cause your glutes to get smaller?

–> Did you also know that having under trained glutes can lead to imbalances and cause injuries throughout the body?

Achilles tendonitis

IT band pain

Knee pain

Back pain

Shin splints

Who would have thought?

Having undertrained glutes is a serious issue but something easy to correct. And don’t think that just because you’re serious about your workouts that you’ve got fabulous glutes.

Take my word for it! In fact, take my story… for years I thought my butt was awesome. Okay, not in the way it looked but in the way I trained it. I did squats, I did lunges, I did step ups. Well, I was doing them all wrong! I was doing these “butt” exercises in a way that targeted my hamstrings more so than my butt.

#Fail.

Luckily, I figured it out! Trust me, when you do a squat that hits your butt, you know it.

How’s a girl suppose to get a bum that is glutilicious? With these exercises:

Top Glute Targeted Exercises For Women

These exercises are great because you don’t need a single piece of equipment and they work! When I finished filming I looked up at Dan and said “Wow, my butt is killing!”

Just try doing 2 of the above exercises in your next workout. Complete 10-15 reps for 2-3 sets and you will feel that same burn. Continue, and you’ll sculpt a tush to die for! That’s what I am aiming for at least!

One last tip: When you do any exercise (regardless of what muscle you’re working), concentrate on that muscle. Focus on contracting it and this will help ensure you’re not working something else by accident!

The Best Butt Exercises:

–> Hip Raise (Hip Extension): Make sure to roll the shoulder blades back and under which will allow you to have a larger range of motion. This holds true for all extensions listed below.

–> 1-Legged Hip Raise

–> Off A Bench Hip Raise: Make sure to keep the top of your back supported by the box/bench that you’re using. This move works best if focusing on a full range of motion, bringing the tush close to the ground before pushing back up.

–> Lateral Step-Ups (recruit more muscle fibers in the glutes than forward step-ups)

–> Table Top Kick-Ups

–> Split Squats: Make sure to keep the front knee over the ankle. If you’re new to this move, use a wall for support.

–> King Deadlift: Similar to a pistol squat but the leg goes behind you instead of out in front)

–> Single Leg Deadlift: You can do this move with a dumbbell or kettlebell as well to increase the difficulty.

–> Single Leg Squat: Another more advanced option is a pistol squat

–> Prisoner Squat: Go down on one knee at a time, but make sure to alternate for a balanced workout.

–> Sprints: These are shown above, but sprinting is an amazing workout to activate the glutes. In fact, it’s an awesome workout for activating and increasing the strength of most muscles in the body! Get out and run… FAST!

–> Inclines: Again, not mentioned above because I don’t have a treadmill but working out on an incline or doing hill training runs/walks is an amazing workout for your butt.

Five years ago each time someone experienced a pain or strange twinge, it always came back to their core. The idea was that with a stronger core, everything else would work better. Now, we know that it takes more than just a strong trunk to keep us moving in a healthy way. We know that the glutes are equally important and equally under worked.

So my challenge to you on this Monday, is to try at least 2 of the exercises above and see how they feel on your tush!